Assassin’s Creed Game Order – The Complete List

Assassin’s Creed is no doubt one of gaming’s biggest contemporary franchises and one of the most recognizable titles to come out of Ubisoft. It has also been the source of much controversy due to the way that the franchise seemed to stagnate for years after it initially became popular.

However, Ubisoft seems to have taken some pages out of the “How to Make an Action RPG” handbook with Assassin’s Creed Origins that came out in 2017, and it seems that all the AC titles in the foreseeable future will stick to the same formula.

Now, the franchise has been around for over 10 years at this point, with a total of 20 games released in that timespan. The 21st one is already on the way, so we figured now would be as good a time as any to make a list of all the Assassin’s Creed games released so far, complete with a short overview of each one.

Main Series

The main series consists of games that belong to the series’ canon, and they are the games released for the PC and the major consoles.

Assassin’s Creed

Release date: November 13, 2007

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows

Believe it or not, the original Assassin’s Creed game was very unique at the time it came out. It featured an interesting take on storytelling by using genetic memory as a means of throwing us back to the medieval ages in the Middle East, where we took on the role of an assassin named Altair ibn La-Ahad as he stabbed, slashed, and parkoured his way through sprawling medieval cities.

In spite of how spectacular this all seemed initially, anyone who played the first game will agree that it devolves into repetition fairly quickly. Because of this, the first Assassin’s Creed would serve mainly as a launching platform for the games that would come afterwards and make more of the concepts that it introduced.

Assassin’s Creed II

Assassin’s Creed II is a direct follow-up to the first game that takes place immediately after its modern-day events, all the while making a significant jump when it comes to the era that the player would be doing the assassinating in this time – Renaissance-era Italy.

Ultimately, Assassin’s Creed II is one of the most widely beloved entries in the series. It introduced one of the most likeable and recognizable Assassin’s Creed protagonists – Ezio Auditore da Firenze – but it also made some important improvements to the gameplay that helped streamline and diversify it, thus making it a more enjoyable experience.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

Brotherhood is a continuation of Ezio’s story which doesn’t deviate much from the mechanics of Assassin’s Creed II. Rather, it simply builds upon them, most notably by adding a new management system that allows the player to recruit people as assassins whom they could then call upon for aid in combat or send on missions that would yield various rewards.

Other than that, there were also minor changes to the combat that made it more fluid, but Brotherhood was also the first Assassin’s Creed game to include competitive multiplayer.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

Revelations is the final chapter of Ezio’s story, and it features a dramatic shift in setting, migrating from Italian cities such as Firenze and Rome to the heart of the Ottoman Empire – Istanbul. However, there were no such major changes in regards to the core gameplay mechanics, as they remained mostly the same.

The only notable additions were the “hookblade”, which allowed for zipline traversal of the city and some new assassination opportunities, as well as a tower defense minigame. As such, Revelations remains one of the more forgettable entries in the series – unless you’re in it for the story, that is, as it wraps up Ezio’s story quite nicely, and in a way that is sure to pluck at the heartstrings of the original game’s fans.

Assassin’s Creed III

Release date: October 30, 2012

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Wii U

Assassin’s Creed III makes another timeline jump, although not one as major as that of Assassin’s Creed II. This time, we the game takes place during the American Civil War, where we play as a Native American named Ratonhnhaké:ton who adopts the alias of Connor in order to blend into American society.

The game moves the focus away from sprawling urban environments to the untamed wilderness of the Civil War era America, and the free-running mechanics are adapted accordingly. Other than that, it also introduced weather changes, animal hunting, naval exploration, and a number of new weapons not seen in earlier games.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Black Flag, like the previous game, is also set in the Colonial era, although it takes place several decades prior to the events of Assassin’s Creed III. The player assumes the role of Edward Kenway, the grandfather of the previous game’s protagonist.

As obviously implied by the pirate theme, Black Flag places a lot of importance on naval exploration and it adopts a more open-world approach than any of the games that came before it. Apart from the upgradeable ship, the ability to build up your assassins’ guild like in Brotherhood, and the improved naval combat, Black Flag didn’t introduce any other major components to the Assassin’s Creed formula.

Assassin’s Creed Rogue

The final game to be set in the Colonial era, Rogue is one of the staler Assassin’s Creed games. It is the first and only game that would have the player assuming the role of a Templar rather than that of an assassin, and there are some gameplay changes to reflect this. Most notably, a greater accent is placed on some more conspicuous of weapons, such as the grenade launcher, for example.

Rogue continues the naval exploration trend of its predecessor, migrating the setting from the Caribbean to the Arctic, but no big changes to the core mechanics were made, apart from the addition of new weapons.

Assassin’s Creed Unity

Release date: November 11, 2014

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows

After the brief naval detour of Black Flag and Rogue, Assassin’s Creed migrates back to the expansive European cities with Unity, as we assume the role of Arno Dorian, an assassin operating in Paris during the French Revolution. Unity also put a greater accent on RPG elements, as it allowed a greater deal of customization of the character and their playstyle than what was seen in the previous entries.

Other than that, it was the first game to feature cooperative multiplayer, but it did not expand much upon the core formula apart from adding – you guessed it – more weapons. Most notably, there’s the Phantom Blade which is essentially just the crossbow and the traditional Hidden Blade combined into a single weapon.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

Release date: October 23, 2015

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows

Syndicate takes a minor temporal step ahead of Unity in terms of the setting, moving from Revolution-era Paris to the Victorian era London. This is the first game in the series to feature multiple protagonists, as both of the Frye twins (Jacob and Evie) are playable throughout the game.

Gameplay-wise, the only notable additions are, once again, a selection of new melee and ranged weapons, while the multiplayer aspect of the game is omitted entirely. Ultimately, Syndicate was the last Assassin’s Creed game before the big shift that Origins would bring.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

Release date: October 7, 2017

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows

Origins broke the years-long stagnation of the franchise by introducing major changes, both in terms of setting and in terms of gameplay. It takes us all the way back to Ptolemaic Egypt and greatly refreshes the stagnant Assassin’s Creed formula with action RPG elements, most likely inspired by the success of games like The Witcher 3 and Dark Souls.

A big change to the combat system is the introduction of hitboxes, as opposed to the paired animation system of the previous games. What this means is that the player can damage multiple enemies with a single attack, but that is a two-way street. As such, Origins provides a more dynamic combat experience which feels ever so fresh and fluid compared to what we’ve seen before.

The game also features a much vaster open world than what we’ve seen previously, allowing the player to switch seamlessly between the cities and the wilderness of ancient Egypt as they explore it.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Release date: October 5, 2018

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows

Released in late 2018, Odyssey takes place several hundred years before Origins and focuses on the Hellenic world and the Peloponnesian War (nothing to do with the mythological Odyssey, mind you). The game will focus more on roleplaying elements, allowing the player to choose between two pre-made characters and featuring more extensive skill trees than what was seen in Origins.

On top of that, naval exploration and naval battles make a return in Odyssey, but apart from that and the aforementioned improvements, not much will be changed from Origins.

Spin-offs

In the second category, we will be covering the non-canon Assassin’s Creed games. These games are generally simpler and smaller in scope, as they are developed mainly for handheld consoles and/or mobile phones.

Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles

The first of the lesser spin-offs of the main series, Altair’s Chronicles is a prequel to the original Assassin’s Creed and was developed primarily for the Nintendo DS. Even though it is a 3D game, it adopts a side-scrolling progression through levels and actually lacks the open world exploration that had been a staple of the franchise for years.

In addition to the DS, the game was also released for a variety of mobile operating systems, including iOS, Android, Symbian, Windows Phone, and even Java ME. Plus, it has been released for the Linux-based webOS which is used by many LG smart TVs today.

Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines

Release date: November 17, 2009

Platforms: PlayStation Portable

Following almost two years after Altair’s Chronicles, Bloodlines was developed exclusively for the PSP. Thanks to the more powerful hardware found in Sony’s handheld console, Bloodlines managed to stay much truer to the standard Assassin’s Creed formula than Altair’s Chronicles did. It included free roaming and pretty much retained the combat system of the first game.

Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery

Release date: November 17, 2009

Platforms: Nintendo DS, iOS

Launched alongside Assassin’s Creed II, Discovery was a 2.5D side-scroller similar to Altair’s Chronicles. With that in mind, the gameplay was rather basic, although the game adapted the formula well to a 2.5D environment. In addition to the DS, the game was also released on iOS several months later.

Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation

Liberation, much like Discovery, was released alongside a main game. However, Liberation was developed primarily for the PS Vita and it was closer to a full-fledged Assassin’s Creed game than any of the handheld games that came before it, retaining an open world setting, featuring more advanced graphics, as well as the series’ fluid combat system.

Liberation was ported to the PS3, the Xbox 360, and Windows two years later, in the form of Assassin’s Creed: Liberation HD. Among other things, the most obvious improvement was made in the graphics department and the game was better adapted to the new platforms.

Assassin’s Creed: Pirates

Release date: December 5, 2013

Platforms: iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows

Released soon after the Black Flag, Assassin’s Creed: Pirates is a game developed primarily for iOS and Android smartphones. As such, it is a fairly simplistic game that focuses on real-time ship combat.

Assassin’s Creed Identity

Release date: February 25, 2016

Platforms: iOS, Android

Another mobile game, Identity was developed first for Apple’s iOS and was subsequently released on Android three months later. It brings gameplay highly reminiscent of that of Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, as it goes back to Renaissance-era Italy.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China is the first game in the three-game series of 2.5D platformers inspired by the main Assassin’s Creed series. Chronicles: China moves away from photorealism in favor of a more simplistic, watercolor-style graphics, and does a great job of adapting the series to the new genre.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India

The second game in the Chronicles series is India, and it takes place during the war between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company, mid-way through the 19th century. The mechanics remain nigh-identical to those of China, although the graphics are more detail-heavy and there are some new signature weapons of that period.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia

Released only a month after India, Russia is the closing chapter in the Chronicles series. It takes place during the October Revolution in 1918, which is the furthest in time any Assassin’s Creed game went when it comes to the setting. As before, the only addition to the game were some new weapons that could be found in said period, while the graphics adopt a more washed-out aesthetic as befitting the era it portrays.

Conclusion

And that would be all the Assassin’s Creed games released thus far! But of course, knowing Ubisoft, the list won’t stop expanding any time soon, for better or for worse.

If we’ve overlooked something or made any errors, please let us know in the comments!